Inhibition Effect of Bocconia frutescens Extracts on the Infection and Intracellular Multiplication of Toxoplasma gondii Inside Mouse Kidney Cells
Artículo académico
The inhibition of T. gondii development by several extracts of B. frutescens, a plant collected in a biological reserve (Reserva Biológica Alberto Manuel Brenes-ReBAMB), was studied in vitro using mouse kidney cells from primary cultures. We studied extracts from the bark, immature and ripe fruit, tender and older leaves, flowers, and the root. To determine the 50% inhibitory concentration rate (= IC50) we counted all the cells, both infected and not infected, as well as all intracellular parasites, and then we calculated the indexes for parasite penetration and its intracellular multiplication. The most active crude extracts were as follows: root and bark (IC50 = ≤ 10), flower extract was less active (IC50 = ≤ 50), and mature fruit extract was just weakly active (IC50 = ≤ 60.4). Alkaloids were found in a fraction of the bark extract; these chemical components will be studied next. This work has already begun in our attempt to find a new alternative product in the treatment of T. gondii.
